Baking & Snack - December 2021 - 26

DOUGHNUT PEDDLER
There are some aspects of production, especially in this
makeup area that Mr. Dairman has yet to find an automated
solution for, even after four new bakeries. The bakers twisting
together the knots, for example. Mr. Dairman has yet to find
a robot that could do that, at least for the throughput at this
time. The two employees who are experts at knotting those
two dough pieces together work on that product for only two
hours a day. Not quite enough to justify the return on investment
(ROI).
After proofing, donuts move into one of the three
Belshaw Adamatic fryers. The third fryer will be replaced
with a wider, longer fryer, nearly tripling throughput. The
other two fryers will be rebuilt.
During Baking & Snack's visit, two employees on Line No.
2 filled bars by hand, and product that was fried and glazed
was manually moved to screens. Donuts ambient cool on
racks, and those that need icing are moved to the manual icing
station, another area that's difficult to automate when going
through as many changeovers as Doughnut Peddler does.
" I only run one product for like an hour, so the jury is
still out on if auto-icing will be right for us, " Mr. Dairman
said. " Rumor is that the technology is catching up to do fast
changeovers that make auto-icing a possibility for a business
like ours. "
But he's skeptical, and the manual process is working so far.
Despite the name, Doughnut Peddler produces more
than just donuts. The company dabbles in other pastries
and sweet goods for its convenience store customers. For
products like conchas, croissants, muffins, cookies, brookies
and even from-scratch banana bread, the company uses
three rack ovens - Belshaw, LBC and Revent - to bake off
this smaller part of the business. During the remodel, this
production space will get an upgrade on the packaging line:
auto-alignment and a spiral cooler.
After donuts are iced, they are moved to the packaging
department, which will be staged to fill custom orders
for each customer. This is another area that Mr. Dairman
has yet to discover a way to automate. One of the ways
Doughnut Peddler sets itself apart is its SKU adjustment
software. Every day, every store receives a custom order
from Doughnut Peddler based on what the software says
will maximize the store's sales and minimize their returns
to Doughnut Peddler (the donut manufacturer buys back
every unsold donut).
To accomplish these custom orders every day, operators
Top: The makeup process in Chandler, Ariz., is a heavily manual
process with multiple transfer points and small sheeters. The process
will be automated next year.
Middle: As donut bars exit the fryer, they are filled by hand and placed
on screens to cool.
Bottom: Doughnut Peddler's Arizona facility supports the fresh daily
donut business for the company's customers in Arizona and even into
California.
26 Baking & Snack December 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com
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Baking & Snack - December 2021

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